| 释义 |
tenpenny, a. (n.)|ˈtɛnpənɪ|
A. adj.
1. a. Valued at, costing, or amounting to ten pence; sold at tenpence the piece, dozen, hundred, pound, quart, gallon, yard, or other customary unit (see also b); also in contempt: cf. twopenny. tenpenny piece = B. 1.; also in the U.K., a decimal coin worth ten (new) pence. tenpenny-worth, the amount of anything to be bought for tenpence.
1592Arden of Feversham v. i, All the tenpenny ale⁓houses would stand euery morning with a quart pot in their hand, saying, ‘will it please your worship drinke?’ 1607Dekker & Webster Westw. Hoe iv. ii. Wks. 1873 II. 339 If all the great Turks Concubins were but like thee, the ten-penny-infidell should neuer neede [etc.]. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) I. v. vii. 141 Lieutenant Felton..made a thrust with a common tenpeny knife..at the Duke. a1668Davenant News fr. Plymouth Wks. (1673) 2 A cloth Of Network edg'd with a Ten-penny-Lace. 1724Swift Drapier's Lett. i. ⁋36 A yard of ten-penny stuff. 1821Scott Kenilw. ii, A tenpenny-worth of cord. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy xxi, She had given him a tenpenny-piece. 1875–7Ruskin Morn. in Florence Pref., I have done more work than you will ever know of, to make them good ten-pennyworths to you. 1968Guardian 24 Apr. 3/3, I handed the woman a new tenpenny piece worth 2s. 1971I. Murdoch Accidental Man 305 The room was unheated except for a weak one-bar electric fire which had to be continually fed with tenpenny pieces. 1973J. Porter It's Murder with Dover xiii. 130 MacGregor watched his tenpenny pieces disappearing down the greedy slot of the one-armed bandit.
b. tenpenny nail: originally, a nail sold at tenpence a hundred: see penny 10. Now, vaguely, a nail of large size; in U.S. spec. a three-inch nail.
1426–8[see penny 10]. 1486Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 16 Xpeny nailes. c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 172 To make the whole matter fast and sure, as it were with a tenpenny nail. 1666W. Boghurst Loimographia (1894) 66 Stomacks like Ostriches able to digest a tenpenny nail. 1826Scott Woodst. xii, Were his nails tenpenny nails, and his teeth as long as those of a harrow. 1890Webster, Penny.., denoting pound weight for one thousand;—used in combination, with respect to nails; as, tenpenny nails, nails of which one thousand weigh ten pounds. 1906Dialect Notes III. 146 Mad enough to bite a tenpenny nail in two, adj. phr., very angry. 1909Webster, Penny is used in combination with prefixed numerals..to form adjectives denoting price or value. As applied to nails these adjectives now denote certain arbitrary sizes, though originally, in the 15th century, they designated the price per hundred; as, a tenpenny nail, one then costing tenpence per hundred. 1967Countryman Autumn 29 My American companion said: ‘I guess we should get some tenpenny nails.’ Then he looked at me: ‘I suppose you don't know what they are.’ I did not. Next day, when we asked for them by that name at the hardware store, we got what we wanted—three-inch nails.
B. n.
1. A piece of money: = tenpence.
a. The token of the Bank of Ireland for 10d., issued in 1805, 1806, and 1813.
b. A franc or lira.
1822D. O'Connell Let. 13 Apr. (1972) II. 379, I will hug every tenpenny as a link in the chain that is to draw back my Mary to me. 1824A. Thomson in Life & Min. iv. (1869) 217 A gentleman..sent me seven ten-pennies—5s. 10d. Irish. 1825Hist. Little Pat in Houlston Tracts I. No. ii. 12 Having received a present of a tenpenny from a gentleman. 1904Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. Ten, (Guernsey) When I get a bad tenpenny I put it in my purse and pass it.
2. a. A tenpenny nail. b. A child's school-book (originally) costing tenpence: formerly the third book used in teaching to read. Sc.
1820J. H. Reynolds Fancy (1906) 22 We've driven a hundred tenpennies already. 1893Crockett Stickit Minister iii. 35 They stammered like a boy new into the tenpenny. |